She’s starting up for the fifth time, but she says, this time, it’s different – this time, her company has more soul, more depth, and a much larger mission. What’s more, Hemalatha Annamalai already has the backing of two biggest Indian corporate honchos, Ratan Tata and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan as she manufactures electric cycles, scooters, three-wheelers and specially designed vehicles for the differently-abled, and hopes to lead India’s electric revolution.
#HemalathaAnnamalai #Business #ElonMusk #OutlookBusiness #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
#HemalathaAnnamalai #Business #ElonMusk #OutlookBusiness #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Women are multifaceted.
00:11 And I think [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:15 So that's the purpose of why you are born as a woman.
00:19 I've done a few businesses in the past.
00:22 This is my fifth venture, a bigger venture
00:25 in terms of content and depth.
00:27 Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I was a corporate animal.
00:30 I was working for Wipro Bangalore for almost five years.
00:34 Wipro gave me a fantastic platform
00:36 because that actually gave me the idea that anyone can excel
00:41 as long as you have meritocracy and as long as you're
00:44 able to get the job done.
00:46 Initial starting vision of Ampere
00:48 was largely just be like any other automobile company.
00:52 So we thought, after coming to the market,
00:54 oh, we can become the next big automobile company
00:57 doing this kind of affordable mobility.
01:01 But then within a matter of about six months,
01:05 I understood that we were actually
01:06 targeting the wrong segment of people, which
01:08 are the gasoline consumers.
01:11 We did make a mistake.
01:12 And then we moved on to be doing--
01:16 helping people that really need transport.
01:18 So we did some intense market research.
01:20 And you know, see, if you look at an average person,
01:24 a middle class person, the challenges are not that much.
01:27 If you look at a lady in a village,
01:29 a woman in a village environment,
01:31 they are not sure whether they'll have electricity.
01:33 They are not sure whether they'll get transport.
01:35 When we were actually contemplating and reorienting
01:37 our strategy, we felt that if we make the transport
01:40 alternative extremely affordable for this sector of people,
01:44 I think we will enhance them in terms of scaling
01:47 up their economic livelihood.
01:51 Our vehicles don't drink, don't shout, don't smoke.
01:56 The reason because is that electric vehicles are
01:58 far more cost competitive.
01:59 And we give three benefits to our customers.
02:01 We give cost savings.
02:03 The second benefit is, of course,
02:05 convenience, because in some villages,
02:07 there's not even petrol pumps, right?
02:09 So we are actually now giving them
02:11 place to charge the electric vehicles in a normal place
02:14 where we charge their mobile phones.
02:16 And third, of course, freedom, because we have seen
02:18 many, many women, particularly Mrs. Banumati,
02:21 who actually gave tip to us.
02:22 She's using an electric scooter.
02:24 We have got newspaper fellows.
02:25 We've got people who are giving tender coconuts.
02:27 We've got electricians.
02:28 These are the people that actually use our products.
02:31 I still remember those days where it was actually
02:42 very tough, you know, because when you're not
02:45 from this place, and when you wanted to even go get
02:48 a building, you know, for lease purposes, it's not easy.
02:51 Because initially, even when you want to attract staff,
02:53 nobody would come.
02:54 They would say, "Oh, this is automotive.
02:55 This is not, you know, women's work.
02:57 This is all only men's, you know, department kind of a thing."
03:00 So when I started in 2008, I used to go to nearby houses
03:03 and pull out the ladies and ask them to come and join us, OK?
03:06 And they were saying, "No, madam.
03:08 We are scared at home, madam.
03:09 They are not letting us in."
03:10 So I used to talk to the spouses also to counsel them.
03:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:19 The short-term goal is to touch about 100,000 vehicles.
03:45 The long-term vision is to do 1 million vehicles
03:48 for the two-wheelers.
03:50 We will also want to focus on specific industries,
03:53 like in the spinning mills and where certain solutions that we
03:57 have created are extremely beneficial for them.
03:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:02 I have undeterring perseverance, passion
04:08 to be able to continue this journey of affordable mobility.
04:13 I wanted many women to be able to take on bigger challenges
04:17 because the mind has got exponential capacity
04:19 to be able to learn many things.
04:21 So if you're able to get good mentors
04:23 and you're able to identify with solving a societal problem,
04:26 the opportunity is so huge.
04:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:34 (upbeat music)
04:37 (gentle music)